Chapter 147: The Apprentices Arrive

Li Ye and Jin Peng slowly made their way to Xiushuijie, because today visitors had come from Qingshui's hometown; Jin Peng had sent Ma Qianshan to drive the 130 truck to pick them up at the Xiushui store, so the two of them could only ride bicycles.

"Xiao Ye, what's that saying of yours again? Is it easy to go from luxury to frugality? You've been driving cars so long you can't even ride a bicycle anymore?"

"It's hard to go from luxury to frugality—you got two characters wrong, Peng Ge. You need to brush up on your culture. What if they make you speak at a staff meeting?"

Jin Peng burst out laughing: "Make me speak? Even if I just let out a fart, everyone below would say it smells sweet."

"You haven't seen how that guy from my old construction company used to talk—his bearing, his authority, his whole demeanor. Follow me and you prosper; oppose me and you're doomed. Try not believing it."

Fuck, you remember that line well.

When they arrived at Xiushuijie, both were slightly stunned by the scene before them.

Surrounding their own store weren't just over a thousand customers, but also dozens of street vendors' stalls.

Food sellers, drum sellers, fruit vendors, shoe repairers—it had become a small night market.

Night market economy had long existed in Da Beijing; back then, state-run stores looked down on such small profits, and ordinary folks had no interest in strolling night markets.

But Li Ye's discount promotion had drawn massive foot traffic—and indirectly attracted street vendors.

Li Ye and Jin Peng watched from outside; though the store was crowded and noisy, overall order was well maintained.

The several retired soldiers from home had proven invaluable—they stood around the store, some helping unload goods, others guarding against thieves, clearly divided in duties and highly organized.

Soldiers aren't perfect, but in discipline and execution, they're still strong.

In a few years, when private enterprises in Yangcheng and Pengcheng explode in number, a demobilization certificate will be like a job referral—almost guaranteed employment at most factories without exams.

Watching crowds of customers happily exit with clothes and shoes in hand, Jin Peng sincerely admired: "You've got more ideas than anyone, Xiao Ye. If we hadn't separated the entrances and exits, we couldn't have handled even half the crowd."

Before having Ma Qianshan continue the promotion, Li Ye had made minor modifications inside the store: he turned the exit into the checkout counter model seen in later supermarkets.

Customers had to pass through the exit channel to leave, which not only helped maintain order but also eliminated countless disputes.

With so many people, losing a few clothes was minor—but if you wrongly accused an innocent person, that'd be serious. They paid, yet you say they didn't?

You don't know the temper of people in Da Beijing? Want to experience it firsthand?

"The store's still too small," Li Ye said, looking at the packed store, asking Jin Peng: "Couldn't you negotiate for any other stores?"

"No luck," Jin Peng shook his head. "This isn't buying a sihe courtyard. None of these are private—they don't even care about our tiny rent."

"True. 1982's still too early."

Li Ye said something Jin Peng didn't understand, then pushed toward the store to see what needed improvement.

Retail is an industry with countless procedural details; Li Ye hadn't been an insider in his past life—he could only learn humbly and adjust as he went.

But before Li Ye could squeeze inside, he turned back out.

He nodded toward a few people squatting near the store.

"Peng Ge, see those guys?"

"Which ones? Those guys… they don't look like thieves."

The people Li Ye noticed were all around forty, their shoes and clothes clean, their eyes not darting toward customers' wallets, but carefully observing the store's interior, occasionally pointing and whispering—clearly different from street pickpockets.

"They might be thieves—but they steal something different."

"You mean… stealing skills?" Jin Peng realized.

Stealing skills is still stealing.

Li Ye smiled, telling Jin Peng to go find him something.

Then he sent Jin Peng off, circled around, and casually squatted beside them, pulling out paper and pen.

The men had ignored Li Ye at first, but seeing him scribbling nonstop, one finally asked: "Hey, what're you doing?"

Li Ye replied: "Our teacher assigned an extracurricular assignment on observing people's livelihood economics. This place looks lively, so I came to take a look—maybe I can scrape together my assignment."

His words were half-true—he had no extracurricular assignment at all, but some economics majors did have similar tasks.

"People's livelihood economics… extracurricular assignment?" The closest middle-aged man asked: "Which school's teacher assigns this kind of thing?"

"Jingda."

"Jingda? Which Jingda?"

"This Jingda."

Li Ye pulled out his student ID and flashed it, then kept writing on his paper.

The man froze, then whispered to his companions; from their tone of surprise, they clearly admired and respected Jingda.

Soon, the men couldn't help leaning in to peek—only to find Li Ye's paper filled with incomprehensible terms like planned economy, market liberalization, and strange diagrams.

"Hey, what're you drawing here?"

"I barely understand it myself! I'm trying to measure price changes of goods at different production stages, figure out why prices here in this night market differ from those in department stores."

"What's there to figure out? No overhead, so they make profit no matter how they sell!"

The nearby middle-aged man blurted out; others nodded in agreement.

Li Ye blinked, humbly asking: "I didn't get it—could you explain?"

"Easy! That Pengcheng Seventh Factory's wholesale department? Only a few people, tiny storefront, minimal costs—of course cheaper than the department store."

"They call it wholesale, but it's still retail—people buy ten or eight pieces for personal use, never resell."

Li Ye confirmed his suspicion: "Brothers, who exactly are you?"

"Us?"

The middle-aged man smiled: "I'm from Xicheng Department Store. These two are from the Second People's Mall and Dongcheng Supply Building."

Seeing Li Ye seemed doubtful, the man pulled out his work ID.

Li Ye opened it—the man was Tian Hongshan, deputy section chief of supply and sales at Xicheng Department Store.

【Truly, never underestimate the heroes of the world.】

Li Ye had come to investigate these people to gauge how sensitive these state-sector backbone talents were to economic development, their initiative, and their capacity to respond.

In this era of massive change, countless strong, ambitious men had smelled the spring breeze and shattered rules to carve out their own space.

Here, Li Ye had only run a few days of promotions at Xiushuijie—and already competitors came to steal his methods.

These men weren't simple—they had timing, location, and manpower all on their side.

Backed by state capital, with mature supply channels, ready retail spaces, and experience and staff already in place.

Teach the apprentice to beat the master—what level are they? What scale do they have?

If they truly copied and innovated seriously, Li Ye's small wholesale shop couldn't compete.

So… know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll win every battle.

"Section Chief Tian, will Xicheng Department Store also launch similar consumer-friendly discount promotions?"

"Hard to do."

Tian Hongshan shook his head, pulled out a cigarette pack, and asked Li Ye: "You smoke?"

Li Ye casually pulled out a pack of Hongta Mountain and passed one to each.

"Smoke mine! They've been sitting so long they're probably moldy."

These were a gift from Hao Jian—he hadn't smoked more than a few sticks a month since Wen Leyu disliked the smell.

"Wow, your cigarettes aren't bad."

In 1982, Hongta Mountain cost over a yuan a pack and required ration coupons—quite decent.

"I've been watching here for two days. I'm envious, but some things they can do, we can't."

"Staying open until eight? We can manage—just pay overtime bonuses. But how do we calculate profits for so many clothing items? How do we settle payments? Who takes responsibility if something goes wrong?"

After a few cigarettes, Li Ye had pieced together most of what Tian Hongshan meant by "hard to do."

For example: how to motivate night-shift workers? Should bonuses be given? How to distribute them? All needed meeting approval.

Who bears the loss from discount sales? The department store? Or should suppliers share the burden? Also needed meeting approval.

Most importantly: who bears responsibility for change?

Over the years, Xicheng Department Store had tried reform before—many efforts fizzled out.

One tiny obstacle could turn everything into chaos.

In short, the word "responsibility" blocked innovation and stifled the initiative of men like Tian Hongshan.

Li Ye had a plan. He chatted a bit longer with Tian and the others, then excused himself to find Jin Peng.

After explaining everything in detail, Jin Peng sucked air through his teeth, hesitant and pained.

"Xiao Ye, I know you're sharp, but we just don't have a store yet—I'm looking right now! Why rush to give them money?"

Li Ye shook his head: "They're struggling now. Once they overcome these hurdles, we won't be rivals. So we must remove their obstacles while letting them earn profit."

"Only then can we buy time to grow and accumulate."

"."

"Alright then. You're the major shareholder—if we lose, you lose the most."

Jin Peng rubbed his scalp and reluctantly agreed—Li Ye's decisions over this long period had never been wrong.

………………

At 8: 0 p. ., Ma Qianshan nearly lost his voice before finally lowering the store's shutters.

Outside, Tian Hongshan and the others, having squatted for hours, helped each other stand, shook off numb legs, and headed toward their bicycles.

"So envious! Just this tiny storefront—smaller than a corner of our building—and one night's turnover hits tens of thousands."

"More than tens of thousands—I counted each person leaving the exit. Over four hundred held multiple items each. Turnover must be over a hundred thousand!"

"Turnover's got nothing to do with us. I told my boss yesterday—he called me a meddlesome dog chasing rats."

"True. Old Tian, you want to climb higher. We don't have the connections—for a few phantom bonuses? Not worth it."

"Sigh~~"

Tian Hongshan sighed deeply. When they graduated from business school together, how full of spirit they'd been—but now, years had worn them down. How much heroism remained?

"Leaders, don't rush off—let's chat a bit!"

Jin Peng blocked the three in front, smiling innocently.

(End of chapter)